Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, for the longest time, has been one of the more obscure Shonen Jump manga. It’s only been in the recent years, with the anime adaptation, the franchise has seen a rise in popularity. When it comes to games there aren’t that many Jojo games out there. But now the world is one Jojo game richer. Does it manage to stand proud among the plethora of Namco Bandai’s anime 3D arena fighters or is the game actually the work of an enemy stand?
HELLOOOO Jojo.
Most other anime to game adaptations’ story modes Namco Bandai does usually cover a specific arc or the entire story. Jojo does it a bit differently. Eyes Of Heaven is an original story. The game starts right after the end of Stardust Crusaders. Instead of the story continuing in Diamond Is Unbreakable, Eyes Of Heaven tells a different story. Jojo Says goodbye to his friends only to be ambushed by characters who claim to serve “The Noble One” and are supposed to be dead. As soon as that happens a character by the name of Robert E.O. Speedwagon from Phantom Blood (a part that takes place 100 years before Stardust Crusaders) shows up. He tells Jojo and the gang that he found a part of what is called the holy corpse (from Steel Ball Run) which allows him to travel time and space.
Anomalies are happening over all time and space and are caused by the noble one so Speedwagon is looking for people who can help him find the other parts and defeat the noble one. The story is barebones but that’s not exactly what they were going for. The main draw of the story is that we get to see all the Jojos team up and meet each other. While the concept is solid it could have been executed better. When certain characters meet we get some interesting interaction but it’s mostly someone explaining what’s going on. There are funny or cool moments but these are very far and few in between.
Players walk around in stages talking to allies, breaking objects for items and going to a spot on the map to go to the next mission. Walking around in these stages feels like a waste of time and doesn’t add anything. The game might as well just connected fights through cut scenes and dialogue because running around in the stages isn’t engaging. Cut scenes are very few and far in-between but are done pretty well. When cut scenes are not being used the game uses the character models and text-boxes much like an old JRPG. The game is fully voiced tough so that’s a plus. The game also has a level-system which when leveling up will make your characters stronger but it won’t make that much of a difference. There also is a skill-tree where you spend points where you can unlock moves. These moves are unlocked automatically when playing any other mode but are locked behind an unlock-wall to give a false sense of progression. Eyes Of Heaven’s story mode had a lot of potential in its premise and while it does do some cool things it fails to truly capitalize on any cool moments due to the actual nature of the game not allowing for such scenes.
Seeing Jojo’s from all different times and universes interact is cool even if it doesn’t reach max potential.
ORA ORA ORA
Eyes Of Heaven plays like pretty much any other licensed Shonen Jump anime from Namco Bandai. It’s a 3D arena fighter but this time around it’s got some different things going on. First off, this game is a 2v2 game. Four characters are on the battlefield pretty much most of the time. When one opponent goes down the other receives his or her partner’s soul which gives them an extra life-bar and buffs them . The combat works just one would expect from such games. There is a light attack button , heavy , block, dodge and a jump button. Special moves can be activated by holding the special button and selecting one of four different moves or one of to EX versions of the same moves which do more damage but have a longer cooldown. Every character also has a special talent which all vary greatly. These talents range from setting traps or ziplining to even the ability to freeze time. Some characters will be able to use these talents frequently while the more powerful talents will take a long while to charge. Players can cancel out of their combos by using a special move to finish the combo. And that’s about as deep as the mechanics go on a technical scale. players can block or dodge attacks and heavy attacks can break shields faster but that’s about it. There is a lot of flair in the moves and combo’s making the game looks very flashy and stylish. it’s a nice change of pace to have some stages that have several levels of height and cliffs to fall in. The main problem lies in the 2v2 style. It’s not really necessary. Players can do special moves together but these can be activated by only one of the two players and for the rest there is no real mechanics that really support the 2v2 angle. Players can’t really help each other out or need to co-operate in order for them to win. If the two versus two player style was an extra mode it would have been a fun extra mode, but this is the main mode of the game and in no way would the game have been different if it was one on one. That is with the exception of the chaotic mess the game seems to get at some times. Considering there usually are about four people on the field and each of which usually have another person popping out of them doing rapid punches and flashy moves the screen can get very cluttered. This makes for just another arena fighter that can get slightly enjoyable at times but mostly feels a bit to cluttered to enjoy. Fans of these kinds of series tend to still enjoy themselves with friends on the couch playing with each other. This time tough it’s not the case. Jojo does not support local multiplayer. So even fans of the series who just wanted a night of playing with their friends on the couch might want to skip this one.
Like most of these games, the combat is flashy but shallow.
Stylish and fabulous.
Presentation wise Eyes Of Heaven absolutely knocks it out of the park. Visually it’s very colorful and the models and stages all look really nice with this particular cell-shading. Attacks look flashy and moves have many cool visual effects. All the characters do the known and extravagant poses they are known and loved for. The Character specific Dual Heat moves are fan service trough and trough. The menus and UI also nail that Jojo feeling with nice patterns and flashy bling plastered all over. The music also deserves special mention. While there are a lot of tracks that use the electric guitar and tend to blend into one and another there are some really solid tracks. The tracks are character specific and play in the background when they are selected but since there is so much noise it’s best that the SFX is turned down a bit so you can hear the stellar soundtrack. Eyes Of Heaven has a firm grasp of what makes Jojo Jojo. It looks stylish as hell.
The game nails Jojo’s style and colors perfectly.
Closing note:
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Eyes Of Heaven is exactly as any other of the licensed Shonen Jump game by Namco Bandai. It’s an arena fighter that’s light on mechanics and depth and high on flashy moves and fan-service. Visually it really fits the part and looks exactly as you’d expect. The music is incredibly good. The story isn’t amazing but seeing characters from all different parts meet has its appeal even is it doesn’t reach the levels of greatness it could. Eyes of Heaven is at this point standard fare that fans of the series will enjoy. If you aren’t a fan of the franchise, just move along.
6/10
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